Date: 15th – 29th June 2014
Venue: Laos
Twenty students of Nanyang Technological University participated in this year s Ecoventure, an annual youth expedition project organized by Earthlink NTU. This year s 15-day project ran from 15-29 June and was led by Wong Wei Sum and Tan Yong Zen. Two villages served as the project sites: Ban Keng Khene and Ban Lad Khammune, which sit beside the Mekong River in northern Laos.
The first leg of the expedition covered the village school of Ban Keng Khene, four hours upstream from Luang Prabang the nearest city to the service site. LED lights and holders, sponsored by ReZeca Renewables, and electrical wiring and fans, bought by Ecoventure, were installed in each classroom of the school. Electricity for the school will be provided from the main power line that runs through the village. The team also taught basic conversational English and games to the village children.
The second leg covered Ban Lad Khammune, another hour upstream from Ban Keng Khene. The secondary school in the village serves students from seven villages nearby. To power the school, the team connected a 3 kW solar panel system sponsored by Yingli Solar, which had the capacity to power all the LED lights and fans that the team installed. Finally, the village children enjoyed eating kachang puteh, participating in the science carnival and learning basic concepts in the environmental workshop. After the short stay in each of the two villages, the villagers performed the local baci ceremony and tied white strings onto the wrists of theEarthlink s Ecoventure 2014 goes to Laosparticipants and bid them good fortune.
The expedition also included trips to Luang Prabang, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and Vientiane, the capital of Laos, during the weekends. Participants enjoyed touring the Buddha Park situated on the outskirts of Vientiane and interacting with students from the National University of Laos.
This year s project was done in partnership with YMCA Singapore and MyLaoHome. Expedition leaders Wong Wei Sum and Tan Yong Zen were thankful for the partnerships forged, and for having been given a chance to lead and make a difference in Laos.
Participants were also greatly gratified with their experience at Ecoventure 2014. Loh Jia Wen, who participated in the past two Ecoventures, stated: Ecoventure is a fun experience& For two years, I gained new experiences which have allowed me to grow. Another participant, Yang Mengying, who s trip is her first overseas service learning experience, said, This trip gave us the opportunity to put our education to good use for the betterment of society. My only regret is that I didn t join these trips at a younger age&
The expedition is part of the annual expedition project organised by the Events Executive Overseas committee of Earthlink NTU. Earthlink NTU President Ryan Jin Zhanhe stated that the magnitude of the project has been unheard of in other youth expedition group and hoped it would benefit future youth teams when they visit the village as it will provide them electricity for their tools and devices.
